National Insignia of India

National Insignia of India namely Flag, Anthem, Emblem, Song, Sport, Tree, Flower, Fruit, Bird and Animal. To keep length of page a little short I’ve divided it into parts, where in First part we’ll know about Flag, Anthem, Emblem, Song and Sport. And in the 2nd Part we’ll know about Bird, Animal, Fruit, Flower and tree.

Insignia is the plural of Latin word, which means emblem, symbol, is a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction. Insignia are especially used as an emblem of a specific or general authority. Here we’ll get to know about the national Insignia of India.

India’s National Flag

The Indian flag was designed as a symbol of freedom. The late Prime Minister Nehru called it a flag not only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom to all people.

The Indian flag is a horizontal tri-color in equal proportion of deep Saffron on the top symbol of strength, courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation of the country, white in the middle symbol of peace, purity and truth with Dharma Chakra and dark green at the bottom symbol of fertility, faith, growth and auspiciousness of the land.

The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white band, there is a wheel in Navy Blue known as Dharma Chakra (Ashok Chakra) replaced the Gandhian spinning wheel to add historical “depth” and separate the national flag from that of the Indian National Congress. Its diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes. This Dharma Chakra depicted the “wheel of the law” in the Sarnath Lion Capital made by the 3rd-century BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation.

National Anthem of India

Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India. Written in Bengali, it is the first of five stanzas of an ode composed by Rabindranath Tagore, the song Jana Gana Mana was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly adopted the song as the National Anthem of India.The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza comprises the full version of the National.

Translation to English
O! Dispenser of India’s destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country,
in the Dravida country, Utkala and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters of Yamuna and the Ganges.
They chant only thy name.
They seek only thy auspicious blessings.
They sing only the glory of thy victory.
The salvation of all people waits in thy hands,
O! Dispenser of India’s destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Victory to thee, Victory to thee,
Victory, Victory, Victory, Victory to thee!.

India’s National Emblem

The National Emblem of India is a replica of the Lion of Sarnath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Lion Capital was erected in the third century BC by Emperor Ashoka to mark the spot where Buddha first proclaimed his gospel of peace and emancipation to the four quarters of the universe. The National emblem is thus symbolic of contemporary India’s reaffirmation of its ancient commitment to world peace and goodwill.

The four lions (one hidden from view) – symbolizing power, courage and confidence – rest on a circular abacus. The abacus is girded by four smaller animals – guardians of the four directions: the lion of the north, the elephant of the east, the horse of the south and the bull of the west. The abacus rests on a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. The motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below the emblem in Devanagari script means ‘truth alone triumphs’.

National Song of India

Composed by Bankim Chandra, this song appears in the Bengali novel Anand Math. The English translation of Vande Mataram rendered by Shree Aurobindo, is considered to be the “official” and best. The first stanza of this song has been given the status of our national song.

India’s National Sport

Hockey is the National Game of India. Unmatched excellence and incomparable virtuosity brought India a string of Olympic gold medals. The brilliant Indians brought a touch of black magic to their play and the ball juggling feats of the Indians were a sheer delight.

The Golden Era of hockey in India was the period from 1928 – 1956 when India won 6 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics. During the Golden Era, India played 24 Olympic matches, won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals. The two other gold medals for India came in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

In this post we’ve covered about 5 National Insignia of India, rest are covered in the next post i.e. National Insignia of India (Part 2)

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